>Despite the volumes of snow, Winter Wrap-Up proceeds even better than it did last year, and you and Aleksandr add your full-throated voices to the song.
>You find it foolish that unicorn magic is unwelcome, but you are not so foolish as to question this particular tradition.
>You plan a meeting of a Soviet of Soviets, and rent the meeting hall in Canterlot for a pittance; Canterlot has become rather poor as of late, as the ponies there are slow to discover honest work despite the urgings of their Princess.
>Life is good.
>You wake up the next morning to hear Fluttershy talking to Angel, who is still not used to your presence.
>"Aww, who's a snuggly wuggly Angel-kins? Does snuggly wuggly bunny want his lettuce?"
>The rabbit is backing away from her.
"Fluttershy, have I ever told you about the stars and the names?"
>"Why, yes, but.. can you remind me?"
>You take her foreleg between two of your own, and snap it easily.
 
>The black ichor that seeps out is not Fluttershy's.
>Nor is the body after a moment.
>How can something have so many holes in it and live?
"Where is she?"
>"I'll never tell you-"
>You take its horn between your forelegs as you did before.
>Hard work makes a pony strong.
>It snaps like a twig.
>You hold it to its throat with a corner of your mouth.
"Where is she?"
>"We.. we took her north, to the Cavernous Mountains! We needed to-"
"Thank you."
>You jam the horn into its neck and upwards into its head.
>More ichor comes out.
>You gallop out, yelling as loud as you can:
"RAINBOW DASH!!"
 
>You ARE the fastest pony in all of Equestria. Twilight knows it, Applejack knows it, and even that red leader-pony-worker-dude knows it.
>You just hope you're fast enough.
>Two black specks hold a yellow one at the corner of your vision.
>commando.sid
>You slam into the right one at Sonic Rainboom speeds, and it flies into the ground, you care not where. It barely slows you down.
>You do an instant 180 to see two yellow pegasi, both yelling for help.
>What, do these things think you're stupid?
>Of course it's the one on your right now.
>It turns black as it tumbles into the ground.
>Of course you have to grab Fluttershy before she hits the ground.
>Can't that pony, you know, FLY?
>Then again, she *is* pregnant.
 
>You would give Rainbow Dash an honor, but you don't have any high enough.
>She is safe, and so is the foal inside her.
>And she faints as she sees the very dead changeling inside her house.
>Stupid Ilyich. You should have cleaned that up.
>You were expecting to have to give her a lecture on the necessity of some executions.
>That, and it's just an insect; she feeds fish to ferrets.
>But she says nothing about it. Nothing at all.
>This is why you would never have told her about the stars and the names.
 
"Is she out of her MIND?!"
>"We'll be under flag of truce. And I'll have a teleportation spell ready-"
"Do you honestly expect these things to respect a flag of truce, Twilight? And you cannot have insurance for everything. Your Princess has lived for thousands of years, are you sure she is not senile?"
>"No, she is not senile! The Princess knows some things. Like when she brought me to Ponyville, she knew I was going to make friends. I don't know how she does it, but she does."
"And we are going there, with this.. insect body.. to apologize?"
>"And to find out why they kidnapped Fluttershy, which you should have ASKED before you KILLED it!"
"Oh, I know the answer to that. I have been pursued by assassins in my last life. This is nothing new. I suppose we shall soon see if I get a third life."
>"Oh, I wouldn't bet against us just yet, Ilyich. I have an ace up my sleeve. If I had sleeves."
>There is a long tube attached to Aleksandr's right foreleg.
>None of the ponies recognize it for what it is; it has been too long for them.
>You do not ask how he built it.
 
>It is a long way, but proper horses do not speak of tiredness.
>Not even when they are carrying a dead monster.
>You managed to talk Twilight out of bringing any friends but Rainbow Dash. She can only teleport so many, and you may have to leave quickly.
>"WHO COMES TO MY LAIR? YOU! YOU HAVE KILLED MY CHILD!"
>As if she actually gave a fuck.
>It is Aleksandr who responds.
>"We return your dead to you, and we are sorry for your loss. We wish nothing but peace between us."
>"We understand that you need love to survive. Perhaps if you learned to love each other and work like bees, you would not need to steal it like mosquitos."
>"YOU COME HERE, AND SAY THIS TO MY FACE?"
>"Drones! You need not serve such a vile queen. Cast away your shackles, and join together in harmony and great soviet revolution!"
>You love your brother so very much.
>"But we warn you. If you ever take the form of any of us again, we will take that as an act of war."
>Twilight looks at him. That was not in the script.
>"Yeah! What he said!" goes Rainbow Dash.
>The four of you leave the dead changeling at her feet, and trot away.
 
>You can feel their eyes watching you as you leave.
>You are just glad the Queen met you topside, and not underground.
>You don't even want to know what's beneath your feet.
>The whoosh of white wings flies overhead, and you see the Princess gracefully land next to you.
>Rainbow Dash bows at once.
>"Princess, I didn't know you'd come!" gushes Twilight.
>"I had to make sure you were safe, my little pony. I hope you have learned a valuable less-"
>*** BLAM ***
>The alicorn's neck is no longer there.
>Its torso spouts black ichor, and the head of Queen Chrysalis flies end-over-end to land, point-first, in the dirt.
>"I warned you." says Aleksandr, faintly.
>That's when the swarm comes.
>"TWILIGHT! TELEPORT! NOW!"
>You are no longer there.
 
>"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"
>"Come on, Twilight, that was awesome! We both totally thought that was the Princess, but Alex was all 'No you're not', and his tube-thing went all BOOM, and her head went weeeee-PLOP!"
>"No, Rainbow Dash, that was not awesome! How am I going to explain this to the Princess?"
"Perhaps I should do the explaining, hmm? Or maybe you should think a little harder. What did you say before we left? The Princess knows what is going to happen."
>"She couldn't have known your brother was going to do THAT!"
>"Then why would she send two Russians anywhere?" Aleksandr asks.
>Twilight has nothing to say.
>There is a loud thumping and rustling far behind you, as if a million gorillas are pounding each other at once.
>"Rainbow Dash, go check it out."
>"On it, Twilight."
>She flies up high and flies back down, laughing.
>"They're fighting EACH OTHER!"
 
>You decide that it is wisest to leave them to it.
>You are unconcerned with the Princess's opinion of what you and your brother have done.
>You are more concerned with how she'll react to the violent anarchy you have left behind.
>Only a fool would believe that one death is a tragedy and a million is a statistic.
>The trip back is much quicker than the trip there.
>Twilight quietly retreats to her library, presumably to write a letter.
>Rainbow Dash is still happy.
>"That WAS awesome. You're awesome, Alex!"
>And she gives him a lick, right on his muzzle, and laughs as he chases her.
 
>"I was hoping you would try to end this feud between our people! Not.. not kill their Queen and leave them in ruins!"
>So much for royal clairvoyance.
>And, for some reason, no one has told Alex to unstrap the weapon from his arm.
>They still don't understand.
>Maybe they can't; they are herbivorous ponies, not murderous primates.
>Maybe it's better if they don't.
>"I'm starting to think that I should just send you both back where you came from."
>"Princess, that is hardly a threat."
>Why did you tell her, Aleksandr?
"Princess. When Shining Armor blasted them all away, did he rid Equestria of the threat? No. In fact, he only protected Canterlot. What if they had gotten their revenge immediately, against Ponyville, against Manehattan? Your royal guards do not protect all of Equestria. They only exist here, in Canterlot. The rest of your land, you have left undefended."
>"I will not let you turn my little ponies to your murderous ways."
>"That? That is not our way. The true Russian way would have been to seal the entrances to their hive, and then pour in deadly gas."
>No p0ny replies for many seconds.
>"You're going back. Back to this Russia, or whatever you call it-"
>"Princess, there's three.. things coming this way, carrying a white flag!"
 
>They are shimmering, beautiful, in a constant state of change: pink, yellow, white.
>Their wings glimmer in the light, and their horns continually radiate.
>"Thank you for saving us!" they say at once.
>What.
>"When the Queen took over, she kept us locked away, to prevent any other Changeling Princess from becoming Queen."
>"And they became dark, evil, cruel."
>"We're so glad you ended her tyranny!"
>They flutter off in a stream of sparkles.
>Well, that was certainly random.
>Seriously, what the fuck is up with this world sometimes?
 
>Celestia looks at you and your brother intently.
>"Do you now realize what the consequences of violence can be?"
>Aleksandr unstraps the weapon from his arm and lets it fall to the floor.
>"I would like to be sent back now, if you please."
"I hear Siberia is nice this time of year."
>"But then you'd miss out on your 'Soviet of Soviets', wouldn't you?"
>When did you develop a duty to these creatures?
 
>A true Soviet is a raucous thing, particularly when it is between so many ponies who have never met before.
>Representatives from every city are here; some you have seen, some you have never heard of.
>Even representatives from the Changelings are present, although they are a bit less.. sparkly.. than their princesses.
>Speaking of Princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance are all present.
>Shining Armor is in attendance, as is a large contingent of the Royal Guard.
>If this were not Equestria, you would assume that they would simply execute you all at once.
>Your brother is here, as is Rainbow Dash, who affectionately presses against him and wishes to see the Wonderbolts in the capital.
>But with the flow of wealth from the capital to the working cities, the Wonderbolts have had to go on tour to earn their keep, and they are scheduled to arrive in Ponyville.
>"Wait, so the Wonderbolts are in Ponyville, and I'M HERE?!"
>Her affection was apparently not terribly great.
>One fewer pegasus attends the Soviet.
>The Manehattan representative speaks first about the telegraph system. He expects lines to be built directly to it, and started at the other cities.
>The other cities' representatives are not fond of this arrangement.
>Two close cities think that they should get priority and help to test the system between them.
>It seems sound, and it is strongly argued against.
>For nearly an hour.
>Even though you are arguing more and more loudly, you can see that you are about to reach an agreement, and ponies are rhythmically banging the table.
>You are glad Twilight is not here.
>Oh, wait- she is. In the back. And she's about to have a seizure.
>And speaking of seizures...
>"Now this is what I call MY kind of party! Who wants vodka?!
>Oh, no...
 
>You have an agreement. Agreements. You think.
>At least that's what the hoof-scrawled signatures on these pieces of paper say.
>You also have a headache.
>That, you're very sure of.
>You had been in a lot of crazy meetings in your life, but none quite like that.
>Ponies lay passed-out at the table. One mare from Stalliongrad (you finally recognize that name- it's as if Stalin had a city named after him, but who would name a city for him?) works out some details with you.
>At least it's better than what you had to do as a man.
>But ponies do not commit terror.
>Nor do the tsarinas even seem to care that you are usurping them right out from under their long noses. Luna is shocked at what she had just witnessed. Candace is giggling girlishly. Celestia...
>Celestia is walking up to you, and you think she might have finally grasped the whole 'murder' thing.
>"That wasn't what I expected, but you might finally be ready."
"Ready for what?"
>"Ready to hear a story."
 
>"I suppose you all know the story of Hearth's Warming Eve?"
>Ponies struggle to awaken. A few unicorns start casting sober-up spells. It's not a spell that saw a lot of use until recently.
>"Yes, Princess, we've all heard it. Every year, in fact." Twilight says.
>"And in that story, who raises the sun?"
>"The unicorns."
>"Yes. The unicorns."
>Celestia unfurls her wings widely. Ponies are starting to sober up. The Changeling representatives form themselves with larger eyes.
>"But the unicorns did not always agree on the sun's timing. Some wanted to sleep in, and some wanted it up early. Some wanted only a few people to have the power. Eventually, it grew to war. And all this magical energy created a being of terrible power."
>"Discord!" Twilight shouts, shocked.
>"Yes. Discord. He was weak, at first, small. But as the battle raged, he grew. As did I."
>"When my sister and I first received our cutie marks, we had the most power over the sun and moon. Unicorns started to flock to us, to treat us as their Princesses. With their power, my sister and I became as you see us now, and you can see it in our bloodline."
>"But shortly after we were crowned, Discord showed himself at full strength, and we had to collect the magic, laughter, loyalty, kindness, honesty, and generosity from all the remaining ponies to defeat him."
>"Since then, we have ruled Equestria. For thousands of years, ponies have looked to me as their source of truth and guidance."
>"But, now I see that maybe it was the wrong path. Maybe Equestria doesn't need a princess to raise the sun."
>"Maybe all Equestria needs is friends."